Music

Britney Spears is looking free and ready to take the stage ... and she's not muting Michael Jackson.

Britney showed off her moves, dancing around her home workout area. She had MJ's "Scream" going while she flaunted her choreography ... and the whole scene could be a response to what her manager told us ... that Brit's just not ready to perform.

We can't tell if the clip she posted Thursday is new or a #tbt. She didn't use the hashtag, but her outfit looks identical -- right down to her necklace -- to one she wore in a March 2018 workout vid.

Either way, it seems like a clapback, because just Wednesday ... Spears' longtime manager Larry Rudolph told us she's not fit to return to her Vegas show, saying, "From what I have gathered it's clear to me she should not be going back to do this Vegas residency, not in the near future and possibly never again."

As we've reported ... Britney's been dealing with family and mental health issues at home since being released from a facility last month.

Her parents are also in the midst of a conservatorship showdown as fans spread the #FreeBritney movement online.

Halsey's doing her part to keep Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" at the top of the charts by TWERKING to the hit ... while wearing chaps, and not much else!!

Halsey was heading out to a party Wednesday night when she decided to show off her outfit -- cowboy hat, boots and black leather assless chaps. Her ensemble woulda been enough, but then she went and started strutting and twerking to 'OTR.'

Juvenile probs be like "Slow motion for me."

Anyway ... she captioned her post, "When someone says 'cowboy themed birthday party' and you already own the chaps."

Not that Lil Nas X, featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, needs the help. It's been number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for 6 consecutive weeks -- and it's been streamed more than 140 million times since it dropped last month.

The rapper's been in hot demand ... he performed at Cardi B's spring/summer line collection launch just a couple weeks ago.

As for Halsey's vid ... Lil Nas X had a simple one-word response ... "ayeee." Says a lot, though.

Nipsey Hussle's final day on a music video set was an uplifting, almost spiritual experience alongside DJ Khaled and John Legend ... as you can see here.

TMZ obtained this behind-the-scenes footage showing Nip, John and Khaled recording the vid ... just a few days before Nipsey would be gunned down outside his Marathon Clothing store in South L.A. The video setting was atop a parking structure the crew rented out in nearby Inglewood.

The song is for the Khaled track, "Higher," which will be on his upcoming album, "Father of Asahd."

John referenced the project in his tribute tweet to Nipsey on the day he died, saying he'd just filmed with him and calling the collab "beautiful."

He was right ... the song sounds like a straight banger, and also looks like it'll have pretty interesting visuals -- John at a grand piano, right next to classic cars with hydraulic suspensions firing. Not to mention Nipsey in a dope head-to-toe blue suit.

"Higher" drops Friday, and is presumably one of the last collabs Nip recorded before his death.

Khaled says 100% of the proceeds from the song and music vid are going to Nipsey’s children, Emani and Kross Asghedom … and he says Nip’s family gave him their blessing.

Seeing him in action here really reminds you ... gone way too soon.

"Black Lightning" star Marvin Jones III says ignorant people who kill albinos for their "magical powers" should be charged with war crimes ... and he wants the U.S. and other world powers to step up.

We got Marvin out Wednesday afternoon at LAX and wanted to get his take on the Amnesty International's call on Malawians to head to the polls next week and elect leaders who will NOT stand for the continuation of attacks on people with albinism.

The human rights org says the wave of violent attacks are fueled by the false and dangerous myth that body parts of people with albinism contain magical powers and make someone rich.

Marvin -- who portrays the supervillain Tobias Whale on the hit CW show -- says the crisis hasn't gotten enough of the world's attention and wants the U.S. to lead the charge and bring change.

Check out the clip ... Marvin says being born with albinism is very misunderstood and he's saddened by those who continue targeting albinos for a piece of their flesh, blood and bones.

Yo Gotti's got great timing because when his tour bus got sprayed with bullets in Nashville ... he easily could have been on board, and killed.

Cops responded to a shots fired call after 11 PM Tuesday night and found the rapper's bus had been shot up outside the hotel where he's staying. Police checked the bus and discovered nobody was on it, and no one had been hit in the hail of gunfire.

Bullet holes peppered the bus, and at least one tire was blown out. It's unclear if the motive was simply to vandalize the bus or worse ... cops are investigating, but no arrests so far.

Gotti had just performed earlier in the night at the Mercy Lounge. It's unclear if he'd ridden the bus back to his hotel room prior to the shooting. A witness tells us he heard rapid gunfire for about 6 seconds and then heard screeching tires as a car sped away.

YFN Lucci might be in the market for a bulletproof ride now that his G-Wagon is riddled with bullet holes from a drive-by shooting that left one person in the vehicle injured.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... YFN Lucci's Mercedes SUV was shot up Friday night in Atlanta, and when police responded, they found a man suffering from two gunshot wounds. We're told the victim was not Lucci, and the rapper isn't listed on the police report.

Our ATL Sources tell us it's Lucci's whip, although his mother is the registered owner.

We've obtained pics and video of the damage, showing bullet holes all over the place! The ammo ripped through the passenger windows on both sides, side doors, the rear window, the rear door, the bumper and even one of the rear tires.

Our sources say the gunshot victim told cops he was driving when shots started ringing out, piercing through the vehicle and striking him in his left shoulder.

We're told he picked up his shot-up ride from a salvage yard earlier this week ... and it looks quite different than it did when he featured it in a recent music video.

Britney Spears is not going back to Vegas for another residency ... not in the near future, and maybe never, TMZ has learned.

Our sources tell us Britney is not in mental or physical shape to resume rehearsals for the series of shows, which were supposed to kick off back in February.

Britney's longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, tells TMZ, "As the person who guides her career -- based on the information I and all of the professionals who work with her are being told on a need-to-know basis -- from what I have gathered it's clear to me she should not be going back to do this Vegas residency, not in the near future and possibly never again."

Rudolph is not involved in Britney's conservatorship -- never has been -- and he is only given medical information that directly impacts Britney's career. He says Britney was 2/3 of the way through rehearsals for the reboot when her dad got ill late last year.

As Rudolph put it, "It was the perfect storm. We had to pull her show because her meds stopped working and she was distraught over her dad's illness." The residency, which was supposed to kick off February 13, was put on ice.

Rudolph tells us it's always been up to Britney when she wanted to work and when she didn't. He said, "Last summer, when she wanted to tour, she called me every day. She was excited. She hasn't called me in months. Crickets. She clearly doesn't want to perform now."

As for the future, Rudolph says, "I don't want her to work again 'till she's ready, physically, mentally and passionately. If that time never comes again it will never come again. I have no desire or ability to make her work again. I am only here for her when she wants to work. And, if she ever does want to work again, I'm here to tell her if it's a good idea or a bad idea."

Chicago Cubs star Ben Zobrist and his Christian pop singer wife are headin' for Splitsville ... 'cause Julianna Zobrist has filed for divorce ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

There's been speculation about their relationship after Zobrist left the team last week due to "personal reasons" ... and Julianna deleted her Twitter and scrubbed her IG of most of their pics together.

Court records in Illinois show the singer filed the docs on Monday ... confirming the split is in the works.

Ben was the World Series MVP when the Cubs won in 2016. He's also a 3-time All-Star.

Julianna is a pretty successful singer -- 1 single from her 2016 album, "Shatterproof," hit the Billboard charts.

She also famously performed "God Bless America" at Wrigley Field before Game 4 of the 2016 World Series (the Cubs ended up losing that game).

Zobrist and Julianna have been married since 2005 and 3 kids together -- a son and 2 daughters.

It's safe to say Mick Jagger's ticker's back in tip-top shape, because he's busting out all sorts of moves in the dance studio ... and it's impressive!!!

The 75-year-old Rolling Stones frontman is back in a studio practicing dance routines. In this video, he's grooving and singing along to "Techno Fan" by a much newer English rock band, The Wombats ... and it's clear the young whippersnappers could learn a thing or two by watching Mick.

Dude's still got crazy stage presence.

Jagger's spry dance session is pretty incredible considering he had a stent put in his heart just over a month ago. Still no word on when the Stones will reschedule the tour dates that were postponed when Mick had the surgery ... but this video's a good sign.

Even his 19-year-old son, Lucas, commented, "Oh woah," on the vid.

You said it, kid.

Nelly had to hit pause on his show in Las Vegas after one of his fans did something that totally messed with his flow ... untied his shoe!!!

We just got this wild video from inside Nelly's Thursday night gig at Drai's Beachclub ... and you see him cut the music and go on a long rant after someone in the crowd reached onstage and tugged on his shoelaces!!!

Check out the clip ... Nelly was NOT having it. He paused the show for a few minutes, ranting about being too grown to have people untying his kicks, and ripping an overzealous fan for getting too close for comfort.

Fortunately, Shoelacegate didn't derail the whole show ... folks at the club tell us Nelly got back to rapping after addressing the crowd.

So, if you're trying to grab Nelly's attention the next time you're at one of his shows ... stay away from his footwear.

British musician and movie maker Duncan "Dunstan" Bruce is one of the founding members of the long-running English alternative rock band Chumbawamba and was responsible for his lead vocals on the catchy and/or annoying 1997 earworm song Tubthumping.

Tubthumping almost reached the top of the UK Singles Charts but stalled out at number two ... while the track climbed into the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Dunstan Bruce left Chumbawamba back in 2004 while the rest of the group split up eight years later in 2012.

Fun Fact: Tubthumping was named one of Rolling Stone's top twenty annoying songs.

R. Kelly's getting ahead of his child support obligations ... ponying up the dough 2 months in advance to avoid another jail scare.

The disgraced singer's crisis manager, Darrell Johnson, tells TMZ ... Kelly's family attorney, Lisa Damico, appeared in Chicago court Tuesday afternoon and paid $41,666 to cover June and July's child support payments to his ex-wife, Drea Kelly.

As for the $32k Kelly still owes in interest on back child support, no decision was made in court ... but Johnson says they don't plan on paying anyway. He tells us, "At no point in the foreseen future do we see paying interest of child support. As of May 14, 2019 Mr. Kelly is current on support payments."

As we previously reported ... Kelly avoided another trip to the slammer earlier this month after appearing in court and paying ALL of the back child support he owed Drea ... a cool $62k.

Remember, he's been on the hook for $20,833 per month since January 2009.

Fugees rapper Pras wants to set the record straight about the feds claiming he illegally sunk millions into President Obama's coffers, or as he'd put it ... check out my new music!!!

Seriously, it really went down that way when Pras joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live." He addressed the indictment head-on ... revealing federal agents nearly raided him during a recording session. But, when we asked point blank if he'd had any financial dealings with Malaysian financer Jho Low -- who the feds claim funneled illegal donations through Pras -- things got weird.

Pras says he plans to respond directly to the federal indictment -- but only on his upcoming EP, which he's entitled, "Elon Musk." Apparently, it's dropping next month ... as he mentioned at least half a dozen times.

He also copped to making donations to Obama, but says they were fully on the up and up. Just as importantly, Pras would say, he has an EP coming out!!!

Can't recall the name of it.

Pras has been pretty consistent with denying any nefarious activity with Jho Low, whom he acknowledges he's met, but shoots down any type of relationship.

He told us at LAX a few months back he thought the government was coming after him because he's black. Still, Pras says he'll beat the rap because, unlike many others, he can afford a great attorney.

Britney Spears ex-manager isn't letting a little restraining order stop him from sounding off about her conservatorship ... and Sam Lutfi firmly believes she's getting closer to freedom.

Lutfi walked into LAX Tuesday and was immediately peppered with questions about his former client and her conservatorship. As you know, Britney was in court last week asking a judge to give her more control of her life. Although the judge denied her, for now, Lutfi says he thinks it's just a matter of time.

As for the restraining order -- which requires him to stay 200 yards away from Britney and her family -- Lutfi insinuates here that Brit's dad, Jamie Spears, got it simply because he has a "personal" beef with him.

It's no secret ... Britney's family blames Lutfi for taking her down a bad path back in 2008 when she spiraled out of control and had her breakdown.

But, watch the video ... Lutfi is under the impression that, these days, he and Lynne Spears just might be on the same page when it comes to Britney's well-being.

As Britney's camp stated in the restraining order ... they believe Lutfi's been a key figure in stirring up the #FreeBritney campaign. He certainly seems to be leading the cheers in this clip.

Nipsey Hussle's family and the woman who gave birth to his daughter had an emotional showdown in court ... which left his baby mama in tears.

Nipsey's sister, Samantha Smith, and his brother, Blacc Sam, appeared in L.A. County Superior Court Tuesday for a hearing on the guardianship of the rapper's 10-year-old daughter, Emani Asghedom. Emani's mother, Tanisha, was at the hearing as well and broke down crying when she saw her daughter for the first time in what she said was months.

The courtroom was cleared for 20 minutes while Tanisha and Emani spent some time together. However, the hearing was pushed until Friday when a final decision is to be made on custody and finances.

We broke the story ... Samantha filed legal docs requesting guardianship last month because our sources say she believes the child's biological mother is unable to care for her.

Nipsey took care of Emani before he was killed, but Samantha says she's helped raise her too and is seeking legal guardianship "to ensure the continued stability for Emani and ensure that she will be able to maintain her current and ongoing relationship" with their family.

Nipsey's brother, Blacc Sam, has also filed a declaration in support of Samantha getting guardianship of their niece. Meanwhile, Sam's in a legal fight of his own to take control of his brother's estate ... including $2 million worth of assets.

As you know ... Nipsey was gunned down on March 31 outside his Marathon Clothing store in Los Angeles. The suspected murderer, Eric Holder, pled not guilty in April ... but he needs a new lawyer after Christopher Darden quit the case.

Feast your eyes on the star power to come that is North West -- who just dropped her first music video for Lil Nas' smash hit, "Old Town Road." Gotta say, the kid's got talent.

Kim Kardashian posted the video to social media Tuesday, captioning it ... "What we do on maternity leave.... Directed and Choreographed by North." The home video starts out with North filming her mom inside their home but then takes center stage herself.

Donning a cowboy hat and an outfit that kinda looks Jessie-esque a la "Toy Story," North busts out some sweet moves ... and gets some pretty nice close-ups along the way.

Look, it's obviously not supposed to be a serious music video -- the real one for 'OTR' is dropping Friday -- but it's a helluva first step for North, who's proven to be quite the artiste ... and certainly not one to shy away from the camera. That much she's made clear.

It's interesting ... North seems to be following in the footsteps of another young famous tyke who's been making some artistic waves herself -- Beyonce's daughter, Blue Ivy. It was recently revealed that Blue helped choreograph one of Beyonce's Coachella dance numbers, as seen on the new Netflix doc about the build-up to the show.